Toilet Bypass for Urinal Attachment

ABSTRACT

This toilet bypass comprises one or more holes, tubes, slots or combination thereof in conventional toilets, to be used by urinals attached to toilets so that urine is drained directly into sewer lines connected to the bottom or back of toilets instead of draining into toilet bowls or through extra plumbing connections into bathroom walls or floors. The bypass may be located in the narrow gap between the back of toilet bowl and the water tank or in the side or back of toilets. The bypass eliminates the need for extra plumbing or to flush the toilet after every urination thus significant water is conserved in as much as a person usually urinates several times a day.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Utility Patent Application No. 63/120,709 filed on Dec. 2, 2020 by the present inventor.

RELATED U.S. PATENT DOCUMENT Application Number Filing Date Patent Number Issue Date 16/201,008 Jan. 29, 2019 10,851,535 Dec. 1, 2020

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to human waste disposal systems. More particularly, the invention relates to an improvement in conventional toilets that complements urinal attachments.

BACKGROUND

Most houses are built without free-standing urinals so that conventional toilets are used for defecation and urination. Men prefer to stand, rather than sit down, when urinating. This results in minute droplets of urine ricocheting out of the toilet bowl and building up into fine layers of urine covering the floor.

The urination position preferred by men and boys contributes to foul-smelling and unsanitary condition of the bathroom, resulting in the need to clean the toilet and the surrounding area more often. For many householders, installing free-standing urinals require expensive plumbing modifications and additional space to otherwise compact bathroom areas. Therefore, attaching urinals to existing toilets to allow users to stand for spill-free urination is a cost-effective solution.

The applicant has invented a urinal attachment for conventional toilets (U.S. Pat. No. 10,851,535) that is installed between the back of toilet bowl and the toilet water tank. The funnel of said urinal attachment catches urine and prevents spillage into the floor. However, said urinal attachment and prior art are still limited because they either: (a) direct urine into the toilet bowl thus the toilet still needs to be flushed so water is never conserved, or (b) use a tube or pipe that connects to sewer line beside the toilet; a hole is drilled into floor or the wall to connect the tube or pipe to sewer line.

This present invention allows said urinal attachment, with a modified outlet, to channel urine directly into a waste pipe connected to back end or bottom of toilet configuration and thus bypassing the toilet bowl. This invention, in conjunction with said urinal attachment, eliminates the need to flush the toilet after every urination, so that significant amount of water is conserved in as much as people usually defecate once a day only but urinate several times throughout the day.

There appears to be no prior art directly related to this invention because this invention makes sense only once it is determined that a urinal attachment can be placed between the toilet bowl and the water tank as demonstrated by said urinal attachment. This invention is simple; however, applicant believes that novelty and utility are the relevant considerations.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a conventional toilet with a bypass. Said bypass, located between the toilet bowl and the toilet water tank, comprises one or more holes, slots, tubes or cavities or a combination thereof used for draining urine and liquid directly into a waste pipe at the back end or bottom of conventional toilet configuration. Said bypass may also be located in the rearside or backside of the toilet for efficient or expedient alteration to existing toilet moulds.

The bypass may include a cap or plug to prevent sewer odor from leaking into the bathroom if and when said urinal attachment is not installed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some exemplary embodiments of the present invention are illustrated and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings

FIG. 1 is a view of a conventional toilet with a toilet water tank mounted to the back and with said urinal attachment installed in-between.

FIG. 2 is a view of a toilet water tank.

FIG. 3 is a view of a toilet without a water tank.

FIG. 4 is a left side perspective view of a toilet with S-trap pan.

FIG. 5 is a left side perspective view of a toilet with P-trap pan.

FIG. 6 is a left side perspective view of a toilet with a variant of P-trap pan.

FIG. 7 is a side view of said tube bypass.

FIG. 7A is a front view of said tube bypass.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional toilet configuration. A water tank 1 is secured to the back of a toilet 2. Said urinal attachment 3, in grey shade, is installed between the toilet bowl and the toilet water tank. While a toilet seat and a seat cover are not shown, said urinal attachment does not affect normal toilet operation such as pulling up or down of seat or cover.

FIG. 2 shows a toilet water tank 4. Components of toilet water tank are not illustrated because they are unaffected by this present invention. A minor optional change is a depression or cut 5 made to front wall of water tank. Said cut or cuts allow said urinal attachment to more easily extract a portion of water from the tank, for cleansing the funnel of said urinal attachment after use. In addition, said cut or cuts provide a way of further securing said urinal attachment to the tank wall. Also, said cut or cuts may be used as replacement for ventilation holes in back walls of some brands of water tanks.

FIG. 3 shows a conventional toilet with holes 6 used to secure the toilet water tank, an input hole 7 through which tank water is flushed into the toilet bowl, and holes 8 used to secure a toilet seat and a seat cover. This present invention includes a bypass 9 used by said urinal attachment to drain urine and liquid directly into a waste pipe at the back or bottom of toilet configuration. There is no need to flush down untainted water from the toilet bowl.

FIG. 4 is a left side perspective view of a toilet with S-trap pan, which looks like a downward-facing letter S with a waste pipe connected to a sewer line through the floor. The arrows show the flow of water in and out of the toilet. Said bypass 9 has an intake end 11 for accepting urine and an outlet end 12 for channeling urine into an S-trap water area 13. Water in the bowl 14 prevents urine odor from leaking into the bathroom.

FIG. 5 is a left side perspective view of a toilet with a P-trap pan that looks like a downward-facing letter P with a waste pipe connected to sewer line through the wall. The arrows show the flow of water in and out of the toilet. Said bypass 9 has an intake end 11 for accepting urine and an outlet end 12 for draining urine into a P-trap water area 18. Urine mixes with water in the trap and, while only water in the bowl 19 is visible to toilet users, some odor from stained trap water may still leak into the bathroom but eliminated the next time the toilet is flushed.

FIG. 6 is a left side perspective view of a toilet with a modified P-trap pan, also called Q-trap with a waste pipe sloping down into the wall. Said bypass 9 may be located further back as possible to allow said outlet end 12 to drain urine into sewer line instead of trap water area 22. The outlet end 12 may be flattened or shaped such that it prevents collecting toilet paper and other waste material that may otherwise impede efficient flow of waste.

FIG. 7 shows a left side view of said tube bypass 9. Said tube bypass may be sloping backward or forward depending on toilet configuration. There may be a cap or plug 24 to seal said intake end 11 to prevent sewer gases from leaking into the bathroom whenever said urinal attachment is not installed. Said outlet end 12 may be straight down, bent, flattened or curved so as not to interfere with flushing of waste.

FIG. 7A shows a front view of said bypass 9, with curvature 28 or curvatures may be laid flat against the toilet inner wall so as not to interfere with water flowing from water tank to toilet bowl. Said bypass 9 may consist of one or more holes, slots, tubes, cavities or combination thereof, and of which cavity or cavities, when built into the toilet during manufacturing process, is the seamless and preferred embodiment. Said bypass 9 may also be added during or after the manufacturing/moulding process of toilets.

Accordingly, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention herein described are illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Reference herein to details of the illustrated embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, which themselves recite those features regarded as essential to the invention. 

I claim:
 1. A urinal bypass for conventional toilets comprising: one or more holes, slots, tubes, cavities or combination thereof located between the back of toilet bowl and toilet water tank; wherein said urinal bypass having an input end for accepting urine and liquid; and having an output end for draining urine and liquid directly into waste pipe of toilet configuration. 